The present invention relates generally to the generation of test signals and more particularly to a signal generator and user interface for setting parameters and test sequences for a test signal generated by the signal generator.
To check the operation of an electrical circuit under test, a test signal is provided to the circuit under test. A signal generator is an apparatus that provides such a test signal for checking the operation of the circuit under test. The signal generator has controls for setting-up the test signal according to user settings. The output signal from the electrical circuit may be observed by a measurement instrument, such as an oscilloscope or the like.
Various manufacturers provide user interfaces for setting-up test signals. One Example is the WinIQSIM™ Simulation Software, manufactured and sold by Rohde & Schwarz. The simulation software provides a user interface for setting-up digitally modulated signals and adding impairments to the signals. The user interface has a multi-carrier block diagram as shown in FIG. 1A having various blocks for defining parameters and setting impairments to the signal. Clicking on one of the blocks, such as the Data Source block, opens a data source dialog window as shown in FIG. 1B where the user can define data parameters or import a data file. Once the user has set the parameters of the data source, the user clicks the OK box and the dialog box closes. Clicking on the Modulation Setting block as shown in FIG. 2A opens a Modulation dialog window as shown in FIG. 2B where the user can set the modulation parameters of the signal. Clicking on the OK box closes the Modulation Setting dialog window. Clicking on the IQ Impairment block as shown in FIG. 3A opens an IQ Impairment dialog window as shown in FIG. 3B where the user can set the IQ Impairments “On” and set IQ impairments for the signal. Clicking on the OK box closes the IQ Impairment dialog window.
A drawback to the above described user interface is that the user has to set signal parameters with the respective dialog windows for each of the blocks in the block diagram. This does not allow the user to view all of the settings for the signal at a glance. Further, the above user interface does not allow the setting of a group of PPDUs (Presentation Protocol Data Units) and the repeating of the group(s). Neither does the above described user interface provide for selective ON/OFF of signal components, such as headers and Physical layer Service Data Unit (PSDU).
What is needed is a user interface for use with a signal generator that allows a user to view the settings of a signal at a glance. The user should be able to set parameters for signal packets and groups of packets. The user interface should allow sequence control of the groups to allow the signal generator to provide various and complicated frame sequences and provide structured test approaches to design development processes.